On November 29th, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Geely Holding Group) and NIO signed a strategic cooperation agreement on battery swapping in Hangzhou. The two sides will engage in comprehensive cooperation in multiple fields such as battery swapping standards, battery swapping technology, battery swapping service network construction and operation, research and development and customization of battery swapping models, and battery asset management and operation. Liu Jinliang, CEO of Yiyi Internet Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Yiyi Internet) under Geely Holding Group, and Shen Fei, Senior Vice President of NIO, signed a contract on behalf of both parties.
Yiyi Internet was established in 2016, mainly engaged in the B-end operation market battery swapping business. "Through this strategic cooperation on battery swapping, both sides will strengthen cooperation in the battery swapping industry chain, accelerate the standardization and generalization of battery swapping models, jointly build a new ecosystem of battery swapping and energy supplementation, and jointly assist the low-carbon transformation and high-quality development of the automotive industry, creating greater value for users." said Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Holding Group.
According to the agreement, both parties will effectively cooperate with existing and new sites through the "joint investment, joint construction, sharing, and joint operation" model, and build a larger scale and unified power exchange network. Both sides will work together to create two major battery swapping standard systems in China, namely "private cars" and "commercial cars".
"This strategic cooperation will further promote the popularization of battery swapping models in the C-end and B-end markets. NIO stated that in the future, NIO battery swapping stations can not only serve passenger models of various brands such as NIO, Changan, and Geely, but also serve operational vehicles.".
In the eyes of the outside world, this cooperation with Geely Holding Group signifies that NIO Power's battery swapping system is about to move from to serving both B and C simultaneously, and NIO Power's profitability is also expected.
According to calculations by Dongfang Securities, the breakeven point of the power exchange station is achieved when the utilization rate is approximately 20%, which means that each station needs to serve 88 times a day to barely avoid losses. According to Shen Fei, the breakeven line for the NIO battery swapping station is approximately 50 to 60 orders per day. At present, the daily average order volume of NIO battery swapping stations is 35 to 36 orders. This also means that in order for NIO's battery swapping business to achieve breakeven, more automotive brands need to join in.
On November 21st, NIO announced that Changan Automobile and NIO signed a cooperation agreement on battery swapping business in Chongqing. The two sides will cooperate in promoting the establishment of battery swapping standards, the construction and sharing of battery swapping networks, the research and development of battery swapping models, and the establishment of an efficient battery asset management mechanism.
"From the first day of its charging and swapping business, NIO has decided to open up to the entire industry. It has now reached the moment of opening up to the entire industry." Li Bin, founder and chairman of NIO, said that in addition to Changan Automobile, there are still 4-5 other companies in talks.
According to official data, as of November 28th, NIO has accumulated 2184 battery swapping stations globally. According to the plan, by 2025, NIO will have over 4000 battery swapping stations globally, with over 3000 to be built domestically. The coverage rate of "electric zone rooms" (residential or office spaces within 3 kilometers of battery swapping stations) is planned to exceed 90%.